University of Delaware Athletics
Sunday, March 10
12 p.m.
University of Delaware
1-13
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Fairfield
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Fairfield
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Delaware
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Photo by: Jordan Burgess
Clutch Hits Lead Blue Hens to 7-4 Win Over Fairfield
3/10/2019 3:00:00 PM | Baseball
NEWARK, Del. – Trust the process.
It's a popular phrase around the area, but that's exactly what the University of Delaware baseball team has relied on in the early part of the 2019 season.
On Sunday, that trust paid off when the Blue Hens strung together some clutch hitting and timely pitching to defeat Fairfield, 7-4, in the series finale of the three-game set.
"I'm proud of our guys. They really all put together their best effort and pushed through to get the weight off our shoulders. It's been a really tough three weeks for us, it's a big weight on everyone in the program and to keep battling and keep fighting, it's great to see their hard work pay off in a game like today," head coach Jim Sherman said. "We had great leadership from our older guys and had some younger guys come up with big performances in key spots today."
Offensively, senior Kevin Mohollen went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored, while freshman Austin Colmery went 2-for-3 with three runs scored for the Blue Hens. Redshirt sophomore Chance DiFebbo and freshman Joseph Carpenter also had two hits apiece on the afternoon.
Freshman Joey Silan was outstanding in his second collegiate start, scattering six hits and two earned runs in five-plus innings of work. Junior Derek Wakeley picked up the win in relief, tossing three scoreless innings without allowing a hit.
"For us, we just have to keep trusting the process. We knew the work that we've put in, we know the effort we've put in to getting better and we knew it would all come together. Today was that day for us," Mohollen said. "We've seen glimpses of what we can do offensively and we knew it was in us, but today we finally broke through. They say hitting is contagious in baseball and I thought we saw that today."
Delaware got on the board first when Colmery ripped a single up the middle to start the bottom of the third. Two pitches later, Mohollen laced a triple into the right center gap to plate the game's first run. Two batters later Jordan Hutchins brought Mohollen home with a groundout to give the Blue Hens a 2-0 lead.
The Stags would put some pressure on Silan in the top of the fifth, loading the bases with one out. The freshman would step up, inducing a groundball for a 4-6-3 double play and kept the lead at 2-0.
Delaware's offense would have his back, plating two more runs in the home half of the fifth from an RBI off the bat of Mohollen and Colmery scoring on a Fairfield error to push the score to 4-0.
Like they had all series, the Stags wouldn't go away, scoring two in the sixth and two in the seventh to tie the game.
Once again, Delaware would have an answer with Colmery drawing a two-out walk in the bottom of the seventh and the very next pitch was sent deep into left center by Mohollen to plate Colmery and reclaim a 5-4 advantage for the Blue Hens.
The eighth would see another two-out rally by Delaware with Carpenter and DiFebbo both lacing RBI singles up the middle to push the lead to 7-4.
Wakeley would do all the work from there, retiring all nine hitters that he faced to preserve the victory.
Up Next
Delaware continues its homestand with a Wednesday afternoon tilt against the Terrapins of Maryland. Game time at Bob Hannah Stadium is set for 3 p.m.
It's a popular phrase around the area, but that's exactly what the University of Delaware baseball team has relied on in the early part of the 2019 season.
On Sunday, that trust paid off when the Blue Hens strung together some clutch hitting and timely pitching to defeat Fairfield, 7-4, in the series finale of the three-game set.
"I'm proud of our guys. They really all put together their best effort and pushed through to get the weight off our shoulders. It's been a really tough three weeks for us, it's a big weight on everyone in the program and to keep battling and keep fighting, it's great to see their hard work pay off in a game like today," head coach Jim Sherman said. "We had great leadership from our older guys and had some younger guys come up with big performances in key spots today."
Offensively, senior Kevin Mohollen went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored, while freshman Austin Colmery went 2-for-3 with three runs scored for the Blue Hens. Redshirt sophomore Chance DiFebbo and freshman Joseph Carpenter also had two hits apiece on the afternoon.
Freshman Joey Silan was outstanding in his second collegiate start, scattering six hits and two earned runs in five-plus innings of work. Junior Derek Wakeley picked up the win in relief, tossing three scoreless innings without allowing a hit.
"For us, we just have to keep trusting the process. We knew the work that we've put in, we know the effort we've put in to getting better and we knew it would all come together. Today was that day for us," Mohollen said. "We've seen glimpses of what we can do offensively and we knew it was in us, but today we finally broke through. They say hitting is contagious in baseball and I thought we saw that today."
Delaware got on the board first when Colmery ripped a single up the middle to start the bottom of the third. Two pitches later, Mohollen laced a triple into the right center gap to plate the game's first run. Two batters later Jordan Hutchins brought Mohollen home with a groundout to give the Blue Hens a 2-0 lead.
The Stags would put some pressure on Silan in the top of the fifth, loading the bases with one out. The freshman would step up, inducing a groundball for a 4-6-3 double play and kept the lead at 2-0.
Delaware's offense would have his back, plating two more runs in the home half of the fifth from an RBI off the bat of Mohollen and Colmery scoring on a Fairfield error to push the score to 4-0.
Like they had all series, the Stags wouldn't go away, scoring two in the sixth and two in the seventh to tie the game.
Once again, Delaware would have an answer with Colmery drawing a two-out walk in the bottom of the seventh and the very next pitch was sent deep into left center by Mohollen to plate Colmery and reclaim a 5-4 advantage for the Blue Hens.
The eighth would see another two-out rally by Delaware with Carpenter and DiFebbo both lacing RBI singles up the middle to push the lead to 7-4.
Wakeley would do all the work from there, retiring all nine hitters that he faced to preserve the victory.
Up Next
Delaware continues its homestand with a Wednesday afternoon tilt against the Terrapins of Maryland. Game time at Bob Hannah Stadium is set for 3 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wakeley, Derek (1-0)
L: Arnold, Josh (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Zeng, Tim 1 ; Esposito, Nick 1 ; Ryan, Tom 1
HR: Ryan, Dan 1
RBI: Gethings, Jack 1 ; Ryan, Dan 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Zeng, Tim 1 ; Gethings, Jack 1 ; Boselli, Anthony 1 ; Ryan, Dan 1
CS: Reynolds, Dylan 1
Batting:
2B: Mohollen, Kevin 1
3B: Mohollen, Kevin 1
RBI: Mohollen, Kevin 3 ; Hutchins, Jordan 1 ; Carpenter, Joseph 1 ; DiFebbo, Chance 1
SF: Mohollen, Kevin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mohollen, Kevin 1 ; Miller, Zack 1 ; Lesher, Zach 1 ; DiFebbo, Chance 1 ; Colmery, Austin 3
CS: Bowren, Erik 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
3
H
2
RBI
0
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